Seagate FireCuda ST2000DX002 2 TB

Fire disk

FireCuda is the most unusual hard drive in the Seagate range. In fact, this is not even a classic HDD, but a hybrid drive that combines large-volume magnetic platters (colloquially called “pancakes”, from 500 GB to 2 TB) and an 8-GB SSD cache. Seagate first used a similar layout in the Momentus XT laptop drive, dubbed it SSHD (SuperSpeed HDD), and then adapted it for desktop PCs in the form of the 3.5-inch FireCuda.

Fastest in its class

The “hard” part of the FireCuda is a HDD with a high spindle speed of 7200 rpm, which results in approximately 200 – 220 MB/s (depending on the disk size) sequential read and write. In principle, there is no faster HDD; the Seagate Barracuda has similar indicators. Additionally, there is a 64 MB RAM cache to speed up the processing of small files.

Data Shuffling

But as soon as the operating system, application or game starts up five times (that is, demonstrates regular demand), it is automatically transferred to the “hard” part (fast SSD cache) and will start up many times faster in the future. Until it is superseded by more relevant data. This algorithm is most relevant, perhaps, for games. Storing them all on a separate SSD is too expensive. This is where the 2 terabyte SSHD comes to the rescue.

Almost infinite resource

Moreover, the SSD cache is made of ultra-wear-resistant SLC memory (one bit per cell, you can’t buy this separately), thanks to which it will not exhaust its rewriting resource for a long time. High reliability is confirmed by a five-year warranty, which is more typical for corporate rather than consumer HDDs. Considering all of the above, we can safely recommend the Seagate FireCuda SSHD to avid gamers and computer enthusiasts who lack the capacity of a classic SSD and the speed of a HDD. In addition to the 3.5-inch FireCuda for desktop PCs, a 2.5-inch laptop is available for sale.